Edward Winter (chess historian)

Edward Winter (born 1955[1]) is an Englishjournalist, archivist, historian, collector and author about the game of chess. Very little information about him is publicly available. His correspondence with other chess historians as well as prefaces of his books suggest he lives in Switzerland. He writes a regular column on chess history, Chess Notes, and is also a regular columnist for ChessBase.

Contents

Chess Notes started as a bimonthly periodical, and was described by its author, in the first issue (January–February 1982), as "A forum for aficionados to discuss all matters relating to the Royal Pastime". At the end of 1989, the periodical ceased publication. In 1993, Winter resumed publication of Chess Notes, which appeared, this time, as a syndicated column, in many languages around the world. From 1998 to 2001, it was published exclusively in New In Chess. Later, it appeared online at the Chess Café website. Since September 2004, Chess Notes has been located at the Chess History Center website.[2]

Beginning in 1996, selected collections of Chess Notes have been published in book form.[3]

Yasser Seirawan calls Winter "the chess world's foremost authority on its rich history".[4]William Hartston observed of him: "Edward Winter is probably the most meticulous and diligent researcher and chess writer around. For several years, from his home in Switzerland, he produced the much-admired Chess Notes, a privately published journal of chess history and anecdote that was the scourge of all that was sloppy or dishonest in chess. Winter's brilliantly scathing style, always adopted in the noble cause of accuracy, give his writings a marvellously entertaining as well as instructive quality."[5]

Winter is noted for his abrasive style in his criticisms of other writers; frequent targets include Eric Schiller,[6]Raymond Keene[7] and Larry Evans.[8]Hans Ree wrote of Winter, "[He] is a just but stern supervisor of chess literature. Every chess writer in the English language knows: when he makes a mistake in a date, overlooks a mate in an analysis, or sins against the King’s English, he will be flogged by Winter, whose eyes see everything."[9]